Prints of different formats are produced by pixel by pixel recording of image information available in digital form for each picture onto a carrier material from a group of band-shaped standard carrier materials having different preselected strip widths. The image information of a print is recorded in a normal orientation or rotated 90° when one of the dimensions of the print to be produced can be made to correspond with the strip width of the available carrier material. The carrier material is changed when neither the length nor the width of a print to be produced corresponds to the strip width of the available carrier material. For a set of pictures to be produced which have at least partially different formats, the sequence of the recording of the underlying picture information is set according to the formats of the prints to be produced so that the number of the required carrier material changes is minimized. The prints are thereby assigned according to their format to width classes which correspond to the different length and width values of the print. The frequencies of the different length and width values of the prints are determined and prints are respectively assigned the individual width classes which have a length or width corresponding to the value of the respective width class, whereby the assignment to one width class is carried out by ranking of the frequency of the value corresponding to the width class. The prints are then recorded by width class onto a standard carrier material corresponding to the respective width class.